Dust-proof bearing



Patented May 23, I899.

R. JA N N EY.

DUST PROOF BEARING.

(Application flled Oct. 20, 1896. Bengwed Nov. 21, 1898.)

2 SheatsSheet I.

(No Model.)

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No. 625,449. Patented May 23, I899.

B. JANNEY.

DUST PROOF BEARING.

(Application filed Oct. 20, 1896. Renewed Nov. 21, 1898.)

2 Sheets-Sheet 2,

(No Model.)

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

REYNOLD JANNEY, .OF WESTBOROUGH, MASSACHUSETTS.

DUST-PROOF BEARING.

SPECIFICATION forming part Of Letters Patent NO. 625,449, dated May 23, 1899.

Application filed October 20,1896. Renewed November 21, 1898. Serial No. 697,031. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, REYNOLD J ANNEY, a citizen of the United States, residing at estborough, in the county of Worcester and State of Massachusetts, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Dust-Proof Bearings, of which the following is a specification.

The object of my invention is to provide an improved construction for excluding dust or grit from bearings; and the especial object of my invention is to apply my construction to a bicycle-pedal.

To these ends my invention consists of the parts and combinations of parts, as hereinafter described, and more particularly pointed out in the claims at the end of this specification.

In the accompanying two sheets of drawings, Figure 1 is a sectional plan view of a bicycle-pedal constructed according to my invention. Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the pedal hub and the parts secured therein. Fig. 3 is an enlarged view of one of the pedalbearings. Fig. etis a diagrammatic View illustrating the action of the form of bearing which I preferably employ. Fig. 5 is a View similar to Fig. 3, illustrating a slightly-modified form of construction; and Fig. 6 is a sectional view of the hub of a wheel with my dust-excluding construction applied thereto.

The means which I preferably employ for excluding dust and dirt from bearings comprise a washer of felt, velvet, or other soft material 'and a metallic piece which is arranged substantially in contact with the dustwasher and which is provided with one or more annular grooves or pockets.

In practice I have found that when softmaterial dust-washers are brought directly into engagement with plain metallic surfaces particles of dust or dirt frequently work in between the dust washer and its bearingpiece, the relative rotation of said parts causing the dust or dirt to travel in substantially spiral pathways, so that the same will gradually work through into the bearings.

By providing the contact-piece which I employ in connection with my dust-washer with one or more annular grooves or pockets I have found that the dust or dirt which works in between the dust-washer and its bearingpiece will be retained in said annular grooves or pockets, substantially no dirt working through to the bearings.

In the accompanying drawings I have shown my construction for excluding dust from bearings applied to a bicycle-pedal and also to a hub. It is to be understood, however, that my construction is equally applicable to other locations and to different forms of bearings.

Referring to the drawings and in detail,A designates a pedal-hub, which may be formed from a drop-forging in the ordinary manner and which has extending arms 10, which-may carry a foot-plate of any of the ordinary or approved constructions, as indicated by dotted lines in Fig. 1.

The pedal-hub A is counterbored at its opposite ends to receive thin metallic washers B, and these counterbored portions are adapted to receive the screw-threaded ball-casings O and D.

The ball-casings C and D are provided with notched or fluted heads and are held in their adjusted positions by means of small retaining-screws 11, tapped into the head A, the screw-heads being arranged to fit into and engage the notches in the heads of the ballcasings.

The axle E is provided at its outer end with a groove or channel 12 for receiving one set of bearing-balls 13 and with a second groove or channel 14 for receiving the second set of bearing-balls 15.

An annular dust-washer 16, of felt or other soft material, fits into a groove in the axle E, and the ball-casing D is provided with an annular groove or socket 17 substantially opposite said dust-washer.

One end of the axle E is threaded, as at 18, so that it may be secured to the bicycle-crank in the ordinary manner.

By providing a ball-casing D with the annular groove or pocket 17 arranged substantially opposite the soft-material dust-washer 16 Whatever dust or dirt may Work in between the dust-washer and the ball-casing will be retained in said annular groove or pocket, so as to be completely excluded from the bearings of the pedal.

The metallic washers B are placed in the counterbored portions to prevent the balls from runninginto the hub A when the axle is removed from the hub.

It will be seen that in a pedal of this construction but one dust-washer is necessary, because the cap at the end of the pedal Y closes that arrangement of the hub. The surordinary manner.

faces which retain the bearing-balls in place are preferably located with respect to each other, so that one bearing-surface forms part of a cone concentric with the axle E, as illustrated in Figs. 3 and 4, and so that a line drawn through the points of contact of the other two bearing-surfaces with any one of the bearing-balls will pass through the apex of said cone. This arrangement of bearing-surfaces I have found in practice to act efficiently and with comparatively little friction 3 but it is to be understood that my dust-excluding construction is equally applicable to other forms of ball-bearingsfor example, to the ordinary four-point hearing.

In Fig. 5 I have illustrateda modified construction of the ball-casing, two dust-retaining pockets 17 17 being provided.

In Fig. 6 I have illustrated the application of my improvement to the bearings of a bicycle-wheel. Referring to this figure, 20 designates the usual axle, on which is mounted the hub 21, having the usual spoke-receiving flanges 22 22. The axle 20 may be held in the bicycle-frame by means of nuts 23 in the A cone 2% is rigidly secured on the right-hand end of the axle 20, as by a pin, and a similar cone 24 is threaded onto the left-hand end of the axle 20 and is held in its adjusted position by means of a check-nut 240. Thin metallic plates, as 25 25, are placed on each of the ball-cones to sustain the dust-washers. Ball-casings 26 are pressed into each end of the hub in the ordinary manner, bearing-balls 27 27 being arranged in each of these casings. Nuts 28 28 are threaded into the end of the hub, and the inner ends of these nuts have grooves cut therein to form dust-receiving pockets 29 29, which act in a similar manner to'the dust-receiving pockets previously described. In this construction also I preferably arrange the bearing-surfaces which engage the bearingballs so that one of the surfaces forms part of a cone concentric to the axle and so that a line drawn through the points of contact of the other two bearing-surfaces with any one of the bearing-balls will pass through the apex of said cone.

I am aware that changes may be made in applying my construction for excluding dust from bearings to the different locations where the same may be employed without departing from the scope of my invention as expressed in the claims.

I do not wish, therefore, to be limited to the forms which I have shown and described; but

What I do claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States, is

1. The combination in a bearing of a soft dust-washer, and a metallic piece having an annular groove, and contact-surfaces engaging the dust-washer at each side of said groove, whereby the groove will act as a dust-pocket, substantially as described.

2. In a bicycle-pedal, the combination ofa pedal-hub, an axle having grooves for receiv REYN OLD J ANNEY.

\Vitnesses PHILIP W. SOUTHGATE, JAMES H. BANCROFT. 

